This post was originally published by CMO-Whisperer.com.

I admit it — I’m teetering on the edge of stir crazy. Some days it doesn’t take much to push me over the edge. But— and I’m about to insult some very good seventh grade writers — an avalanche of middle-school-level headlines attempting to capture my attention have set me on edge.

Continue Reading Glazed Over Eyes Don’t Count As Impressions

This post was originally written for and published by CMO-Whisperer.com.

Even if you aren’t familiar with the setup, you know this is a joke. Marketing and sales can barely stand to be in the same conference room on some days. No way they’re going to drop into a happy hour together. Even if it’s virtually, via Zoom.

Here’s the punchline: While marketing and sales squabble over resources, debate who should be held responsible and who should get credit, the leverage and growth to be gained in alignment is lost.

And that’s no joke. 

Continue Reading A Marketer and a Salesperson Walk Into a Bar…

More than two decades ago Fred Reichheld, among others, began working on a conversation and a system that helped organizations — particularly professional service firms — rethink the issue of client relationships.

In his book, The Ultimate Question (now available in an updated version), the discussion zeroes in on what the author defines as the ultimate measure of loyalty — whether a client would recommend you / your work / your firm to a friend.

The discussion of how to quantify loyalty precipitated important conversations.

Satisfaction, while critical, should not be mistaken for enduring relationship. Appreciation and allegiance do not necessarily equate to advocacy or evangelism.

The Covid-19 Factor

Even while Covid reframes many business development related conversations, Reichheld’s work remains a must-read for anyone serious about gauging the client experience.

As virtually every service enterprise rethinks what can be done to maintain or deepen, never mind create new relationships, there is another question.

The ultimate business development question is rooted in a different value system – the economics of listening – or, as Bob Garfield termed it, Listenomics.

But a word of warning: while it has enormous potential, the question has consequences.

The Question

Specific articulation will vary depending on the situation; but here is the essence.

What do you wish a firm / a company (like ours) would do that we’re not currently doing? What should we be focusing on? If you could design it, what would our working relationship look like — today, and a year from now?

It is a simple question; but the response can be disruptive. Eliminating the nonsensical – “cut your rates by 70%” or “give away your product, portfolio or expertise” – and suggestions will likely center on the need to innovate…to meet the realities of a market hit hard by a global pandemic.

There are plenty of reasons to resist: my plate is overflowing with my own set of challenges…clients don’t always know what best serves them…expectations of today’s market are unrealistic…and what about unforeseen risks.

On the upside, there are little things like differentiation and loyalty. And trusted advisor status.

If you are wrestling with how to engage your targets or clients in the midst of today’s disruptions, ask the question. But be prepared. Asking implies an interest in the ensuing conversation.

Most of us, I’m guessing, have recently had days where we didn’t really know where to begin — much less, how to realize the highest level of productivity.

This past weekend, while enjoying Ann Handley’s new book, Everybody Writes, I was reminded of the daily schedule of one of America’s most productive and innovative historic figures.

(A quick side note — you should add Ann’s book to your list of must-reads. It is one of the best, most practical guides to effective writing for business that I have ever read. It is, as you’d suspect, well written.)

But back to our point. Somewhere along the line — probably in some management class I attended — Benjamin Franklin’s template for daily productivity was cited as the quintessential example of the kind of organization that facilitates productivity and progress.

Franklin’s blueprint, however, failed to turn me into a productive genius; but it quickly became clear that the model wasn’t the problem. I tried at least a dozen “systems” — all the popular brands…all the super-organized notebooks, notecards and tools, all the new apps. None resolved my allergy to organizing. None made me as productive as I wanted to be.

Missing The Point

It took a while. But eventually I came to understand that at least part of the problem was that my definition of productivity was, to be clinical, screwed up.

My focus was on making a list, and checking things off — calls, meetings, administrative duties, project milestones.

Shortening the list meant progress.

In the process (tell me if this sounds familiar), on many days it felt as though I accomplished little of real consequence. Frustration doubled on days dominated by the need to react to the unexpected, meaning the to-do list got longer.

The Missing Ingredient

Turns out I was pretty much ignoring two things that make Franklin’s an approach that is genius — one that transcends even the best daily planner action list.

The first is its simplicity. 

With a day broken into just six blocks, there is structure, yet the schedule remains flexible enough to accommodate leisure, distraction, a real lunch break and the unpredictable.

This simplicity is big; but the second ingredient is the real game-changer.

A Guiding Principle

Embedded in Franklin’s personal template for each day are bookend questions:

    • Morning question — “what good shall I do today?”
    • Evening Question, as if to hold himself accountable — what good have I done today?”

These questions are the missing link — a guiding principle for each day.

Direction For These Days

As what we had come to think of as normal days continue to be disrupted…as we wrestle with unease or even a measure of fear…as we question how we should respond and what we should do today, maybe there is value in bookending our days with these questions.

Coming days are almost certain to present new challenges. Maybe We can zero in on direction if we’ll begin by asking, what good shall I do today?.

If the only reason you want to connect with me is because you have a sales pitch to unleash, I hope you’re selling a commodity.

Most of us make scores of commodity type purchasing decisions regularly — from toothpaste and soap to phones and computers — and we become experts at filtering the pitches.

When in need of a commodity, we either tune in or memory calls up relevant marketing messages; we may factor some combination of personal experience, brand equity and pricing data, and make the purchasing decision.

When timing isn’t right or the need not acute, most of us become relatively adept at postponing or tuning out the steady flow of requests, inquiries or pitches.

Playing A Numbers Game?

Those selling soap or phones understand the way their market behaves, and counter with frequency and creative branding, sprinkled with efforts to heighten felt need. Some combination of market size, frequent visibility, time and message determine the degree of their effectiveness. 

You may want to call it by some other name; but if you’re indiscriminately collecting names this week for use in next week’s mass-produced pitch, you’ve chosen to compete in a crowded and noisy marketplace.

On The Other Hand

If you seek to connect with me because you have an understanding of the challenges or opportunities I face, and you believe you can help, you have the makings of a different marketing and sales approach — one that, when executed properly, will immediately differentiate you.

For decades our prospective clients have been telling us — they hire service providers they believe they can trust. As our last post suggested, this is ultimately about believing that, at every turn, you have your client’s best interest at heart.

This is the essence of trusted advisor status.

A Bridge To Trust

A bridge isn’t built overnight, or in one or two conversations. But invest in developing a relationship based on the belief that you only act in the best interest of your prospect or client, and you’ve moved into rare air.

The blueprint? Be about the client; not about you.

This is, admittedly, easier said than done. But figure out a way for your marketing and sales efforts to deliver value — even today, in the midst of Covid-19 — and you change the face of your efforts.

Delivering legitimate value — something your prospect / market defines as helpful versus a one-size-fits-all mass-produced mailing that might as well be a copy of something the competition is distributing — requires learning what the prospective client will find valuable.

Translation: like the market has been telling us — invest in understanding the business of your target.

Building Blocks For Today’s Reality

Practically speaking, there are four things to apply to your Covid-19 marketing and sales efforts.

1. Do some Smart Targeting. Identify five specific targets to connect with this week — one per day. (If your schedule allows, make this two or three or five a day. The point is to be strategic. You can’t do this today with your list of 1000.)

2. Identify Business Drivers. Spend thirty-to-sixty minutes each morning researching your target of the day. (Again, spend more time here if your schedule permits.) Search newsletters, blogs, industry sites and content produced by your target and relevant competitors for common themes that provide insights into challenges or opportunities. Keep an eye out for consequential change.

3. Get Personal. Develop communication designed specifically for your target-of-the-day, and do two things:

    • Spotlight what you suspect to be a current need or issue based on what you’ve learned about your target’s business; and,
    • tee-up a complimentary follow up conversation for the express purpose of exploring the above. (or any other issue that is causing them sleepless nights). Making this conversation complimentary underscores your desire to provide value in an uncertain moment.

4. Follow Up. Of course, your communication should provide contact information. In addition (and especially in the case of existing clients), the “tee-up” noted above should include a follow up call from you two or three days hence.  When you make this call, remember the purpose: to see if you can find a way to contribute value. And if at first you don’t connect, try again.

The Consequence of Trust

It won’t happen overnight. But go to your market intent on building trust (versus selling a phone today) and you will have reinvented your business development efforts.

It is a frequently invoked label; but you know you’ve attained trusted advisor status when you are invited into the most strategic conversations.

Those who have cultivated trust are in meetings today — albeit a Zoom meeting in most cases — collaborating on solutions, and shaping what the market will look like when businesses begin to emerge from Covid-19.

A side bar: if you are among the group believing that understanding the law or compliance issues related to your market is the same as — to borrow the consultant-speak — understanding what keeps your prospect / client up at night, you may earn a measure of your target’s trust; but you are almost certainly leaving the most rewarding strategic opportunities for your competitors.

Finally, in acknowledgement of the fact that talking about it is not the same as actually doing the work, and in the spirit of wanting to provide value where possible, I have blocked Thursday afternoon for the next four weeks in order to offer a complimentary 30-minute conversation with anyone wanting to discuss marketing, business development and sales. No sales pitches. Just an effort to contribute where we can. Use the contact info here, or shoot me a note at eric@ericfletcherconsulting.com.

When your audience or market believes you always have their best interest at heart, every message will resonate — even in the midst of crisis.

Nothing drives the impact of a message more than the presence (or absence) of trust.

Trust provides a more effective platform than any pulpit…from sanctuary to bully. Once earned, it lifts communiques above the noise and confusion of any market place.

Trust shapes context and tone, making it possible to eliminate all of the ifs, ands or buts that characterize average messaging.

Trust makes it possible to accomplish more in less time, with fewer words and less falderal than the grandest strategy.

Trust is the product of an intentional, disproportionate investment in listening. This is the brand of listening that, to borrow from St. Francis of Assisi, seeks less to be understood than to understand. This kind of listening speaks volumes.

Where there is trust, there is mutual respect, a ready ear, and fertile ground for motivation, collaboration, innovation and change.

If You’re Wrestling With Communication

The degree to which an audience embraces a message — whether it be partners, work force, professional allies, vendors or a target market-at-large — is in direct proportion to the degree to which the audience trusts the messenger.

This should be good news where genuine relationships have been cultivated.

Even so, many wrestle with the content of messaging in a crisis. What should a communication plan look like? Here is a suggested framework.

    • Be proactive — when it comes to communicating with stakeholders, internal as well as allies and vendors, take the initiative — communicate early.
    • Be honest — trust is a powerful building block, but nothing can destroy it more quickly than blowing smoke.
    • Be transparent — akin to honesty, this is about pulling back the curtain, and telling the whole truth — done properly, nothing deepens trust more quickly.
    • Make it about the audience — messages that resonate address real issues or needs, and deliver value.

Use this framework for your communication in the midst of today’s crisis, and you’ll accomplish two things: you’ll have a much better shot at delivering a message that resonates; and, you’ll strengthen the bond of trust with every facet of your audience…which will have its own payoff on the other side of Covid-19.

The Managing Partner spoke with measured emotion.

And conviction.

The topic was the desire he and his senior partners shared to continue the legacy they were beneficiaries of by passing on a thriving firm to the generation of lawyers, now laboring as associates and young partners.

I was taken by the forward thinking…the commitment to something more long term than the monthly hour-watch or annual budgets backed by little more than what it will take to increase earnings.

The conversation included articles to support this focus on the future. Speaking of their search for business development and marketing leadership, he emphasized, “we’re not making this move for this year or the next. We’re looking three to five years down the road. We want a framework that will serve the next group of equity partners.”

It was encouraging. Refreshing. We want to build a capability we don’t have…something that will serve the firm long after we’ve stepped aside…and we recognize this requires a different perspective.

Two Views

Simon Sinek, the organizational and management consultant best known for his TED Talk and best selling book Start With Why, has a new offering available. The Infinite Game focuses on the effects — both short and long term — of approaching particular endeavors as though they are finite in nature, with a beginning, an end, a winner and a loser.

In a finite game, Sinek suggests, there are accepted rules, known participants, and a clear conclusion to the game. Baseball is offered as an example — accepted rules, the participants are known, there is a beginning, an end, and a clear winner.

Then there are infinite games. “Rules” are much less clear. It’s difficult to identify every participant; in fact, players may come and go. And there is rarely a clearly predefined and specified end.

I’ll resist the temptation to do a full review; but if you’re interested in the dynamics of leadership, relationship and effecting legacy in any arena, the book is well worth your time.

For purposes of this discussion, here’s the suggestion: to the degree we operate as though we’re engaged in an endeavor that begins on January 1 and ends at midnight on December 31, the hallmarks of an infinite game will be tough to realize. Namely, a shared commitment to something that transcends higher profits this quarter.

Decisions and operations that infringe on the finite measures of winning — more hours billed each month, higher rates realized, and therefore higher profitability this year — are easily dismissed. Winning in the short term is the most important calculation.

Once you’ve bought into the rules of a finite game, not much is going to shake this focus.

Clarity Around Where Things Never Change

We can theorize or rationalize til our eyes glaze over. But, no matter the venue, there is one reason big change is slow to come: things aren’t broken enough. The status quo is too comfortable. The benefits of playing a finite game are simply too good. Why should we change?

Talking about innovation…opining over operational shifts…meeting after meeting focused on what we should change with respect to our approach to diversity, client development, succession, mental health in the workplace — and the list goes on — these are game pieces that are ever present because we know something isn’t working right. 

Sadly, the only time things tend to change is when the status quo is broken to the point of being irreparable. When what we thought were rules suddenly shift, and the forces of a volatile market conspire against what we are playing for — numbers this year — perspective tends to change. But often, it is too late. Ask the now defunct firms that were once industry leaders…benchmark-makers.

Where we postpone innovation, it is because the price this year is viewed as too great, and we’re comfortable right where we are.

Where we fail to deal with the opportunities of diversity, it is because investment is required; and there are simply no penalties for not dealing with it in substantial fashion.

And where we continually experience little-to-no improvement in business development efforts — fight the same battles…engage in the same debates…have the same conversations every year — it is because there is no real pain associated with rocking along with the way things are.

I am fairly sure the Managing Partner who spoke years ago of perpetuating a legacy spoke out of honest aspirations. But the firm was successful. Partners were comfortable. The way things had always been done had worked just fine. What was the compelling case for change? His partners did not see one.

Things simply were not broken enough to inspire a different perspective.

{Postscript to all aspiring to instigate a new game. Sinek suggests that the object of an infinite game is to keep the game going. The application for us might be to keep the conversation going. There is little victory in many of the skirmishes in which we choose to engage.}            T

The fact that a lot of people are talking doesn’t mean there are a lot of real conversations going on.

More to the point, the fact that there is measurable attention being paid to any particular topic does not guarantee progress.

In the mid 1940’s, the Congress of the United States introduced legislation to make it illegal for women to be paid less than men for comparable work. Decades of talk have failed to realize the goal.

And while the relative timeframes may not be quite as jarring as in the case of equal pay for equal work, the list of issues that have been the subject of conversations for years with little movement is lengthy. In no particular order:

    • How long have those in and around the legal industry been discussing challenges associated with the billable hour? (It was a hot topic when I first worked with a law firm in the early 2000’s — and it had been going on for a while by then.)
    • Or Diversity & Inclusion?
    • Or how about the challenges facing the educational infrastructure?
    • Or mass transit in your community?
    • Or the cost of healthcare?
    • Or the national debt?

As noted — the list is long. It can easily balloon to ten or twenty times what we might list here — without breaking a sweat.

Without respect to the topic, wherever today’s attempts at meaningful dialogue are framed by the same principles, perspectives and values as yesterday’s conversations, movement — never mind, progress — will be marginal, at best.

This is not to suggest there hasn’t been movement — even scrambling — on many of the issues we’ve been talking about for a long time. There has.

And we’re sure not suggesting that we should shut down the talk.

But how much time are you willing to invest in conversations that barely move the needle.

Keys To Better Conversations

“Depend upon it, sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” — Samuel Johnson

There are circumstances that, by their nature, tend to sharpen focus. But where important issues are at hand, and progress is the goal, we should hope for productivity before there is impending doom.

To that end, here are five thoughts on instigating better conversations.

1. Make Listening (vs. Talking) The Priority

We spend a lot of time on this blog talking about listening (yes…ironic). This is likely a subconscious reaction to the fact that we are so bad at it. But the focus is warranted, if for no other reason than nothing is communicated until someone decides to listen.

Intentions listening is not about hearing something; it is about dispensing with agendas, suspending preconceived notions, and striving more to understand than to be understood. NOT natural; but if the only thing we do is commit to the act of intentional listening, we will instantly change the quality of our conversations.

2. Connect Around Shared Values & Aspirations

Intentional listening is the key to the identification of core commonalities. Shared experiences are a good place to begin; but conversations that become substantive enough to effect measurable progress around big issues find footing in core values and aspirations. This is why communication aligned with things such as personal health and the future of our children tend to capture attention.

3. Dispense With Expectations

Listening is tough; but this one is nearly impossible. Yet, in conversations that matter, expectations are often a predictor of failure. Expectations easily morph into conditions; and when it comes to better conversations, a condition is synonymous with an agenda. Most of us resist conversations that are driven by an agenda.

4. Agree on Milestones

Identifying specific milestones serves three purposes. (1) It outlines the conversation, providing bite-sized continuity; (2) agreed upon milestones provide another point of alignment around commonality; (3) realizing a milestone serves as a win-win moment. The more you realize common goals, the more you experience the possibilities that come with building around shared values and aspirations.

5. Build a Bridge to the Next Conversation

Better conversations do not seek to end a discussion, but to make on-going dialogue a given. Next to Listening, nothing will change the nature of your conversations more than a commitment to tee-up the next conversation. This is the real win — a demonstrated understanding that learning is never ending, and that better conversations are the only path to real change.

No matter the topic — innovation, mental health, diversity & inclusion, leadership, a better world for future generations — if we continue to have the same old conversations, the past is, indeed, prologue.

The key to a better reality tomorrow — however you might define it — is a better conversation today.

Years ago I worked with a Managing Partner who regularly referred to the Marketing Department of his law firm as the PR Department. I’m certain it was a habit rooted in the days when law firm marketing efforts centered on work that was public relations in nature.

Though I believe he knew the marketing group’s responsibilities covered a broader terrain, the habitual use of the wrong label both perpetuated and was emblematic of a narrow view of the discipline. 

Today many professional service firms do something similar — saying marketing when what they really mean is sales.

Or perhaps more to the point — expecting (or hoping) that marketing efforts designed to create visibility and awareness might be able accomplish the lead generation and one-on-one work required to land new clients.

You know this. But in case we need to underscore the point — marketing and strategic business development (sales) are not the same thing.

Confuse them, attempt to blur the distinctions in hopes that one will cover for a lack of focus on the other, or ignore either, and be prepared to be completely unhappy with the sum total of your investment.

Hit Pause

I need to inject two relevant notes here.

  • First — I do my part on a daily basis to spread the problem. The very title of this Blog — Marketing Brain Fodder — suggests that everything we discuss here falls under the marketing banner. This is not true. An audit would probably reveal that the majority of content for at least a decade has focused on business development / sales. So I’m guilty…and I’m considering appropriate options.
  • Second — I believe the siloed-nature of our organizations works against us…diminishing the value of resources, inhibiting creativity and strangling innovation. Turf wars and resource battles consume too much time and energy. Underscoring the distinction between sales and marketing can easily be twisted to be an argument for more defined silos. While the topic for a separate post, we should underscore that this is not a case for more defined departments, teams or silos.

Hit Resume — Here’s The Point

If this is just a labeling issue, that is one thing. Anyone working in the legal space for 15 years or more knows of the problematic nature of the “Sales” word. Again — a topic for another post. 

For now, if while we’re using marketing as the umbrella, we all understand that when it comes to the pursuit of new business in the professional service arena, sales is a different animal, then we might debate the value in saying what we mean.

On the other hand, where we’re not clear about the difference, we run the risk of inadequate planning, misappropriation of resources, faulty expectations, and poor ROI in both marketing and sales.

Understand The Difference

If you’re part of a leadership team, prior to judgements as to whether your marketing efforts are effective, be certain you’re not looking for target identification, lead generation and qualified pitch opportunities. These are the purview of a strategic approach to sales (or, if you’re squeamish over the label, business development). An increase in sales requires appropriate investment.

If you’re in marketing or sales, clearly articulate the difference. Great marketing is an asset, to be sure. But perpetuating confusion between the two serves the objective of neither. Marketing is not the same as sales.